The rag picking sister turned out to be a weapon refiner

Hu Xingtong clenched her teeth, sweat slid down her cheeks, interweaving with the heat waves of the magma and turning into mist. Her body trembled unconsciously due to pain.

[Hold on, this is the final step. Once the Dharmakaya and the Mineral Bone are fully integrated, your physical body will possess the properties of the Flame Mine, and both your defense and spiritual affinity will experience a qualitative leap.] Chen Wu's voice echoed in Hu Xingtong's mind, with a hint of unquestionable determination.

Hu Xingtong didn't respond, instead focusing all her attention on the drastic changes taking place within her body. She could feel the fragments of the Yanji ore moving through her flesh and bones. Each contact brought intense pain, but was also accompanied by a warm force, as if repairing her damaged flesh and strengthening her bones.

As time went on, the pain gradually subsided, replaced by waves of fiery and violent power surging through her body. Hu Xingtong could clearly feel that her body was undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Her bones became harder, her muscles became firmer, and even her spiritual power became purer and more powerful.

Finally, when the last fragment of the Yanji ore merged into her body, Hu Xingtong suddenly opened her eyes, flashing with a fiery light. She stood up, feeling the tremendous power surging within her body, and an indescribable joy and sense of accomplishment welled up in her heart.

[Congratulations,] Chen Wu's voice sounded again, with a hint of appreciation and relief.

Hu Xingtong smiled faintly and asked weakly, "No reward?"

[No, and if you plan to continue absorbing the Heart of Flame, I suggest you suppress your cultivation. Your cultivation is rising too quickly, and you're a bit impetuous.]

Hearing this, Hu Xingtong turned his head to look at the two Flame Hearts floating in the magma, "If possible, I would like to just absorb them into my body, and temporarily use the characteristics of the Flame Heart to warm the mineral bones, and then retreat to absorb them after the sect competition." As he spoke, Hu Xingtong also looked inward at his realm. After this period of body tempering, his realm had also entered the middle and late stages of the Golden Core. He was only one step away from breaking through to the late Golden Core stage, but Hu Xingtong did not plan to break through again.

Just as Chen Wu said, his cultivation level was increasing too fast. He was less than 30 years old and had already reached the late stage of the Golden Core Realm. It was really impetuous of him. He still needed some time to consolidate his cultivation level and realm.

Hu Xingtong closed her eyes again and began to adjust her state, preparing for the next step of cultivation. The completion of the ore bone meant that the Scanning Eye needed to further adapt to her body. So, in the days that followed, Hu Xingtong continued to immerse herself in the magma, constantly strengthening and improving her physical body and spiritual power. She also attempted to combine her Scanning Eye with the ore bone.

Because of the opening of the new secret realm, Hu Xingtong also planned to test the strength of his physical body in it. As soon as he entered the secret realm, he felt a moist breath coming towards him. Hu Xingtong looked closely and found that the surrounding environment was full of white mist. He could not see anything with his physical eyes. Everything around him was white and the visibility was very low.

Hu Xingtong tried to take a step forward, and at this moment, the cultivator's intuition told her that there was a threat around. Then, a cold light flashed before Hu Xingtong's eyes. At the critical moment, Hu Xingtong bent down and barely avoided it. Then, Hu Xingtong keenly listened to the surrounding environment and heard a lot of clicking sounds of armor rubbing against each other, followed by the clanging sound of footsteps.

It seemed as if there were many more soldiers in armor at that moment. The sound sounded neat, orderly, heavy and powerful. It seemed that it should be a well-organized army.

Hu Xingtong's heart trembled, and he quickly scanned his surroundings. Unable to use his scanning eye in this secret realm, he could only rely on his most instinctive combat skills. Therefore, Hu Xingtong became even more vigilant, his eyes fixed intently on everything around him, trying to penetrate the thick fog and capture the enemy's presence. However, the fog seemed to interfere with his vision, blurring the image to the point where he could only vaguely discern the general outlines of the armored soldiers and their direction of movement.

"Is it an illusion or a reality?" Hu Xingtong thought to himself, his hands hanging at his sides clenched into fists in front of his chest as a defensive gesture.

Just as she was looking around vigilantly, the armored soldiers suddenly accelerated their advance and rushed towards Hu Xingtong's position from all directions. Hu Xingtong vaguely saw countless armored soldiers holding spears, constantly charging forward.

Hu Xingtong frowned slightly, but instead of retreating, she advanced. She knew that passively defending in this confined space would only put her in a more disadvantageous position. With the power of her Dharmakaya and Mineral Bone, she surged forward, her punches slashing through the enemy ranks. With a fierce push of her legs, she charged towards the nearest group of soldiers like an arrow, ready to disrupt their formation with a defensive attack.

"Hah!" With a clear whistle, Hu Xingtong's fist, wrapped in a blazing wind, cut through the mist like a meteor, striking a soldier's breastplate. With a resounding clang, the soldier was knocked back several steps, leaving a charred mark on his breastplate. Clearly, the heightened physical realm had granted her strength far beyond the capabilities of these spearmen.

Seeing this, the surrounding soldiers, undeterred, gathered around them with shouts, spears like a forest, flashing coldly. As luck would have it, having more people would be more conducive to her practicing the techniques of the Mirror Shadow Sutra. Hu Xingtong was nimble, weaving through the forest of spears like a fish, each dodge perfectly timed, and taking advantage of the gaps in the enemy's attacks to counterattack. Every punch and kick carried a scorching smoke, and wherever it passed, the soldiers were either repelled or burned. For a moment, no one could get close to her.

However, the soldiers were so numerous, seemingly endless, that Hu Xingtong gradually felt her strength draining away. She took a deep breath, and the power within her surged once more. Her eyes grew brighter, as if they could see through all illusions. At this moment, Hu Xingtong seemed to merge with the battlefield, a faint aura condensing around her. Amidst shifts of light and shadow, shrouded by lingering mist, several blurry figures flashed by as fast as lightning.

Suddenly, Hu Xingtong's body sank suddenly, and her legs swept through the army, knocking several soldiers to the ground in an instant. Then, she took advantage of the momentum to jump up, clenched her fists, and the fist wind condensed into two blazing fire dragons, rushing straight into the center of the enemy. Wherever she went, the soldiers fell down one after another, and no one could stop her edge.

……

Finally one day, when Hu Xingtong opened her eyes again, the strength of her body had been improved again, and it had been completely stabilized within the range of the True Yuan Realm. At this moment, she truly possessed an extremely strong body, which was equivalent to thickening her blood bar and making her more resistant to beatings.

"Xiao Wuzi, how long will it take until the sect-wide competition?"

[One more year.]

If there is still a year left, there will be more than enough time. So, it is time to find Yu Chi and refine the Heart of Flame.

……

"I know, one of them is the one I left for you." Yu Chi raised his eyebrows and looked at Hu Xingtong in front of him. His lazy look reminded Hu Xingtong of Qingyue. It seemed that they had very similar personalities.

"Ah, how can you be so sure that I will come?" Hu Xingtong frowned and asked in confusion.

"This area is all my territory. I know everything that happened to you here." Yu Chi didn't look at her. She was playing with a drop of magma beside her. The red liquid bounced up and down on her fingers, showing the owner's leisure at the moment.

"Did you know that when I first arrived, I entered a secret realm and couldn't get out?"

Hearing this, Yu Chi paused playing with the lava and replied with a guilty conscience, "I know. Your master set it up."

Hu Xingtong looked at Yu Chi's face suspiciously. She always felt that this person was lying.

"Okay, take the other Heart of Flame. After you finish refining it, let your senior brother take you away quickly. I'm already fed up with you staying here every day." As he said that, Yu Chi stretched out his hand to drive people away. Hu Xingtong was not afraid of the surging magma, but thought she was guilty. He snorted coldly and turned away.